Spiny mice found to have bone-plated tails

Mammals are a bit odd when it comes to bones. Rather than the bony plates and scales of crocodiles, turtles, lizards, dinosaurs and fish, mammals long ago traded in their ancestral suit of armor for a layer of insulating ...

Luna moths found to use their tails solely for bat evasion

In a pair of complementary studies, researchers took a close look at Luna moth (Actias luna) tails through the eyes of birds and female moths to test the tails' role in predation and sexual selection. Scientists have known ...

A surprisingly simple explanation for 'Oumuamua's weird orbit

In 2017, a mysterious comet dubbed 'Oumuamua fired the imaginations of scientists and the public alike. It was the first known visitor from outside our solar system, it had no bright coma or dust tail, like most comets, and ...

The 'Rapunzel' virus: An evolutionary oddity

A recent study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry has revealed the secret behind an evolutionary marvel: a bacteriophage with an extremely long tail. This extraordinary tail is part of a bacteriophage that lives in inhospitable ...

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